Erocur
by Kalypso Odygia
Summary: In the streets of Oxford live a band of orphans struggling to remain alive. The danger of the street has always high, but now a new danger besets these children and threatens to shatter what little stability they've been able to achive. . . The Gobblers!
1. Smoked Meat

Molly ran as fast as she could down the alley way. Her daemon, Erocur, was in the form of a crow and settled on her left shoulder when she stopped.  
  
"Where have they all got to?" she wondered.  
  
"Probably ran ahead. Better get moving," replied her daemon. He changed into a fox and scurried ahead past the fish crates and old sacks closely followed by Molly who was looking quite peeved.  
  
Molly was 12 years old, tall, lanky and had large hands and feet. She had light brown hair and eyes the color of muddy grass. Her face was slender and pale and she had a slight bounce in her step which made her look like a fidgety bird. She wore a dark green dress that came down to her shins and a white apron. Her boots were weather worn and sported some holes as was the condition of all her clothing. Dirt was smeared on her face and hands and her hair looked wind-blown.  
  
"They must've gone down to the smoke house, Erocur, I don't see them anywhere!" she said wearily.  
  
"Let's go and check then! It's not like they'd leave us without telling where they were going." Erocur replied with a hint of annoyance. " It's almost dark and we have about and other hour before we need to be back."  
  
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Candle light flickered in the old tin shack. Outside the wind howled and the shack was filled with cold drafts. Five children and their daemons sat huddled in the corner on the small building.  
  
The interior was as insulated as it could get. Blankets had been draped clumsily on the walls and across the space so as to have what seemed like two rooms. The remaining scrapes of clothe the children had were sewn together in to a patchy blanket that the five of them could huddle under.  
  
These children were alone. In one way or another each of them had been left with no parents and homeless, hungry and cold they had all found each other. They were all around the ages of 10, 11, or 12. None of them really new their age but that didn't matter to them.  
  
At the moment they were eating what one might call a dinner. They had stolen a smoked piece of meat and were now passing it around so all of them could get the same amount.  
  
"Here, Molly, take another piece. I'm not that hungry," said a the boy next to her. He handed her the chunk of meat and smiled. "I know you didn't have breakfast this morning. You have the rest."  
  
"Seth, really I don't need it. Give it to Emily, you know that she's the smallest of us all. She needs to be well nourished or she'll freeze ounce winter comes. It's cold enough already."  
  
"All right, but you need to have your breakfast tomorrow." Seth took back the meat and handed it to Emily who immediately started to tear it apart and bite down on the tough chunk.  
  
"Do you think that you'll be warm enough?" Seth asked her as she pulled her shall a little closer.  
  
"I think so. But I'll a bit worried about René and Martin. Their coats are getting a little more torn every day and soon it'll be winter."  
  
"You're worried for everyone. It'll be okay, don't worry so much," Seth smiled at her and gave her arm a slight squeeze.  
  
René then blew out the candles. The little building grew suddenly quiet. As Molly lay down, Erocur changed into a great dog and lay down next to her. The beating of his heart next to hers felt so comforting that she forgot her hunger and fell asleep thinking of how beautiful the snow would look once it covered the river banks and the pavements of the city. 


	2. Snow

Molly woke to the sound of falling snow. She could hardly feel her toes from the cold. 

Curled up next to her lay Emily, shivering in her sleep. "We should get a fire going before they wake up," whispered Erocur in Molly's ear. "There's still a little wood left in the corner.

Molly crossed over to the other corner and picked up the remaining 4 pieces of wood. They're a bit damp bit it's better than nothing, she thought.

As soon as the fire was going the little shack felt a bit warmer. Emily stopped shivering and Molly began too feel her toes again. But the snow continued to fall. 

A large yawn came from behind Molly and she turned around to see that Seth had woken up. His sandy blond hair lay on his head as if it had been thrown on hastily, the ends going in every direction. He smiled and bent over so as to get closer to the warmth of the fire. 

"Thanks for starting the fire, it makes it so much warmer in here." His stomach made a large growl. " We'll need more food," he then turned and shook Martin, "Get up! We're going to the market today. Oh, and wake up René." Seth then turned back to Molly. "We'll take what we've got, we can steal the rest." 

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The market was a busy place even in the winter. The streets were lined with rows of carts some with steaming foods others with clothing and others with strange contraptions. Salesmen would yell out for customers. The streets were so crowded that a group of children could easily go unnoticed. 

The children had some money but none were about to us it on food. Next to one of the food stands was Molly. She was good at stealing, she had done it before, but never had she ever felt comfortable doing it. She was always worried that she might get caught. She'd been caught before and did not wish to relive that experience.

The woman at the cart looked over at her. Her daemon was in the form of a crow.

"What are you doing here? Get going now! There's no use just standing around," she said.

Then suddenly the woman shot her head around to find René in mid reach for one of the meat pies. This was her chance, with one quick move Molly's hand shot out and grabbed one of the pies while the woman was still turned and shot off between the carts, through the snow and around the corner before she stopped to lick the drippings from the pie.

Then suddenly as Molly was beginning to look up, a young girl no older than 10 years old came running into her. The pie slipped and fell onto the ground when Molly and the other girl tripped over each other and both landed in a puddle of slush.

The girl got up and looked at Molly and under her breath said something that sounded like, "Stupid townie."

"And who's calling me a stupid townie?" said Molly getting even angrier. The girl gave the air of a colleger. Probably Jordan College.

Jordan College was the grandest college in all of Oxford. Molly had heard about the college a few times and then some other times she was told of a group of kids from the college that caused trouble in the city. This was probably one of those children.

"I'm Lyra. Sorry about the pie." replied the girl who then turned her back and continued running. 


	3. The Chamber

Miles and miles away up in the freezing arctic, light shown from a large set of buildings. Inside a dazzling white chamber, sounds of screaming and anguish came forth. Outside looking through a glass barrier into the room was a woman. Her eyes were fixed on the activity inside the room while her hands were holding and stroking her monkey daemon's golden fur.  
  
What she was watching was horrendous. In the room there were four men and child. Three of the men were holding the child, a boy of a young age. Then the other man has holding the young boy's daemon. Holding another person's daemon wasn't allowed, it was simply forbidden, a great taboo. And here was a group of men actively pulling a child from his daemon.  
  
The last scream issued from the child. Like the rush of wind the bind between human and daemon was broken. The daemon faded from the man's hands as the boy's body suddenly went limp and fell to the floor. The shock of the separation had killed both boy and daemon.  
  
The lady was now at the door of the chamber. "Is he dead?" she looked around the room staring at each of the men individually. The way she had said 'dead' was sickly sweet and rang of the walls half expectant, half disappointed. "I'm...I'm...Let me check." replied one of the men nervously. "Ah, yes, he's dead," he finished as he turned the body of the boy to inspect it, "A bit of a waste-"  
  
"A bit of a waste? Men, this boy wasn't supposed to die!" the woman cut in, "I will be back and when I return the process will be corrected so the children do not die. Is that clear?" She turned her back to the men and marched out of the chamber leaving the men with nervous expressions on their faces.  
  
The engines of the zeppelin roared. As it lifted from the ground the lady looked back at the buildings in the ice and snow. "We should be back here fairly soon," she said to her daemon. She then went to take her seat next to the pilot and rest before they got to London.  
  
"Will we be going to Oxford next?" asked her daemon. "I do believe so," she whispered back. 


End file.
